Two boundary earthworks on the west of Rushall Down

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

The most complete and extensive survival of chalk downland archaeological remains in central southern England occurs on Salisbury Plain, particularly in those areas lying within the Salisbury Plain Training Area. These remains represent one of the few extant archaeological "landscapes" in Britain and are considered to be of special significance because they differ in character from those in other areas with comparable levels of preservation. Individual sites on Salisbury Plain are seen as being additionally important because the evidence of their direct association with each other survives so well. Boundary earthworks which include linear earthworks, so called ranch boundaries, dykes and cross ridge dykes are particularly well preserved in the Salisbury Plain Training Area. They provide important evidence of prehistoric landholdings, land reorganisation and changing agricultural practices through time.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

Two lengths of bank and ditch boundary earthworks meeting at right angles. The earthworks are part of an extensive system of boundary features, although their precise relationship is unknown. 1 - A boundary feature running north-west/south-east for c.270m. The ditch is c.8m wide and there is a counterscarp bank on the north-east. This may be part of the "Long Ditch", sections of which remain extant to the north-west and south-east. 2 - A ditch running south-west/north-east following countour around the steep face of a combe. The ditch averages 6m wide and has a weak counterscarp bank.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Selected Sources

Other
Trust for Wessex Archaeology, (1987)
Wiltshire Library & Museum Service, (1987)

National Grid Reference: SU 09285 53426

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 24-Apr-2018 at 05:38:23.